Rosewood
by MsQuill101
Summary: Our shy green-haired angel is in love with another grasshead. Eek! Yunoki knows! Shimizu, help! Friendship and fluff, Fuyuumi-centric. Eventual FuyuumixHihara
1. Yunoki Azuma, enter!

**I know this is an unexpected pairing, but somehow I liked the idea of excitable, romantic Hihara with shy, nervous Fuyuumi. It won't really be centred on the romance though - every chapter will feature interaction with a different character, and I promise I will spread it evenly no matter how unlikely the friendshipseems. Lots of cute Shimizu and Fuyuumi and evil Yunoki appearances. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own LCDO, else I would make another season.**

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It was a chilly autumn day in Tokyo, Japan. The wind blew strongly, whipping up mini tornados of multi-coloured leaves, while trees slowly allowed the leaves in various shades of bright red, rich orange, brilliant gold, deep ochre and dull brown to drift off their branches and either descend to the ground gracefully or be swept off by the breeze. Children squealed with delight, kicking up piles of leaves that had been meticulously raked together.

Unfortunately, not everyone was enjoying the scenery so much. In Seisou Academy, a bell rang shrilly, alerting all its students that lunch break was half over. Somewhere in the school grounds, a petite young girl playing a beautiful, unnamed tune on the clarinet suddenly started and hit a sour note.

Wincing at the sound of it, she turned and began to pack her clarinet back into its case. It was a beautiful affair, artfully made from Honduran rosewood - all shiny keys and joints with a sheen that caught in the light of the sun filtered through the leaves of the tree she was standing under. It was obvious how well-loved and groomed it was from the way it glowed, without a trace of dust or dirt on the long cylindrical tube.

The girl paused for a moment to pick up a reddish-orange leaf that had drifted onto the velvet-lined case. She packed her clarinet carefully, then picked the case up and began to jog back to the school building. The wind ruffled her short, neat hair, green as the sea, and blew her bangs back, displacing the pink clips that tidily held them in place. She sighed, reaching up to pull the clips out.

She turned a corner and slowed slightly, cocking her head curiously. Standing by a bench was an exceptionally handsome young man with features that could put a pretty girl to shame. There was nothing wrong with that, of course – it was a face the girl was all too familiar with – but it was odd to see _the_ Yunoki Azuma alone. At all times, he would be surrounded by the usual gaggle of fangirls who drowned in his dazzling smile and kind words. At best, even Hihara Kazuki-senpai would be with him. Yunoki-senpai was very, very popular, which came with a price – privacy. Besides, he rarely came to school – or rather college, for him – anymore. Rumour had it that he had been taking an active role in the management of the family company, Yunoki Ikebana, ever since his second brother had fallen into a coma after being involved in a violent car crash.

But standing in front of her was indeed _the_ Yunoki Azuma, completely alone. His hands were tucked into the pockets of his crisp white pants, normally sharp yellow eyes now gazing out into space. His straightened deep purple hair had grown even longer – the breeze tugged absent-mindedly at the ends, but he didn't seem to notice. Odd for him, whose every strand of hair was always in place.

"Ah… konnichiwa, Yunoki-senpai," the girl ventured. The gorgeous bishounen turned his head elegantly and smiled at her, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear.

"Konnichiwa, Fuyuumi-chan. I've been waiting for you," he chided gently.

Fuyuumi Shouko. That was her. Her pretty pink eyes widened slightly. _Yunoki-senpai, waiting for _me_?_ Shouko thought, stunned into silence.

Yunoki continued to smile kindly. Shouko had never been very comfortable around the wildly popular senpai – even though she could actually count the people she was comfortable with on one hand, it wasn't just her. Yunoki-senpai was different. Somehow, the overwhelming kindness which he extended to everyone seemed strangely unreal, and his words rarely seemed to hold any meaning. After a conversation with Yunoki, one tended to forget what he had been talking about. He was so cultured, so perfect, that it was strange.

"You were practicing the clarinet?"

"A-a, hai!"

"You play as beautifully as ever, Fuyuumi-chan."

"Arigatou…"

The introverted clarinet player couldn't say anything more as she stared at her feet. Sometimes she hated herself for being so shy.

"Disappointed Hihara-kun isn't with me?"

Shouko's head snapped up. "E-eh?"

Yunoki smiled innocently as she flushed with embarrassment._ Oh no! What if he tells Hihara-senpai? He's going to hate me!_

"Fuyuumi-chan, don't think I haven't noticed.

"Whenever someone mentions Hihara-kun, you blush." He took a step towards her. She took a step back, eyes widening.

"When Hihara talks to you, you come close to fainting." Another step. Another step, and she was trembling.

"When Kanazawa had announcements during the concours, you always volunteered to tell the third-years, although you're usually too shy to volunteer." _He noticed?_ Shouko thought in a panic – she suddenly realized that he had dropped the honorifics.

"The songs Hihara performed for the concours are now in the Favourites playlist on your iPod, am I right?" He wasn't smiling anymore – he was smirking. The usually gentle eyes now held a glint she didn't recognize.

"And most obviously, you follow Hihara around. Although he doesn't notice, and possibly no one else does, you watch from the shadows when he plays basketball at the court or practices the trumpet in the courtyard." Yet another step – her leg met the bench and she fell back on it, staring up at the approaching figure with scared eyes.

"You like Hihara, don't you? Fuyuumi?" She wished a hole would appear in the ground and swallow her up and drop her straight into the core of the earth, where at least her cheeks wouldn't feel so hot.

She bit down on her lower lip, which was trembling violently. One of her hands clutched the clarinet case protectively to her chest; the other hand, clenched in a fist, shook as it rested below her chin. _What do I do?_ She thought desperately, her pink eyes caught in his predatory golden ones like an insect caught in a spider's complex web. A length of purple hair brushed her shoulder and she shuddered, horribly reminded of pincers. _The spider's going to eat me!_

Yunoki placed one hand on the bench next to her and leaned down, smirking evilly as she shuddered. He hadn't actually planned to reveal his evil side – he had wanted to talk to her for a reason, which he hadn't carried out yet. But in some ways, Shouko was even cuter than Kahoko when she was scared. _I'm_ such _a sadist_, he reflected ruefully. But then again, as Shouko's eyes filled up with tears, the flutist was reminded of why he liked teasing Kahoko so much. With this green-haired girl, there was actually a danger of him going too far, which never happened with the willful violinist.

He straightened, tucking his purple hair behind his ear and then sliding his hands back into his pockets.

"Don't worry, _Fuyuumi_," he said sweetly, watching her reaction with amusement. "I won't tell him."

"R-really?" Shouko gaped.

"Actually, I think I can help you get him. I am his best friend, after all," he continued. _Utter rot_, he thought inwardly, although he smiled on the outside. _However cute she is, someone so introverted and unelegant can never woo a man, and in any case, Hihara likes Kahoko. __**But the aim justifies the means, and that goes for both of us. **_

"A-ah… really?" she was hesitant now. She, get Hihara-senpai? It seemed like a dream.

"Of course! But if you want me to do something for you, Fuyuumi, you have to give me something in return."

"S-something?"

"I'll tell you what it is later. Don't worry, it won't be against your will." _You'll never have wanted anything more, but it will be difficult. _"So, do we have a deal?"

"Eh? H-hai!"

"Wonderful," Yunoki smiled and brushed a non-existent speck of dust off his white blazer. "You should get going, Fuyuumi-chan, otherwise you won't have time to eat."

And with that, he casually walked off, feeling rather pleased with himself for completing his mission, leaving Shouko sitting on the bench, dazed.

After what felt like forever, Shouko's muddled brain began to process thoughts again. She quickly got up, holding the bench to steady herself, and began to run.

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**Yunoki action! What could he possibly want from Fuyuumi? Next chapter: Shimizu Keiichi!**

**Read and review, please!**


	2. Shimizu Keiichi, My Angel

After what felt like forever, Shouko's muddled brain began to process thoughts again. She quickly got up, holding the bench to steady herself – she was still feeling shaky – and began to run. She passed the cafeteria, ran up the stairs, past the Gen Ed classrooms, crossed the divider, entered the Music Department building, made her way past the classes and finally, panting, arrived at the practice rooms. Her green hair was mussed and wind-blown, her clips were still in her hand, her face was flushed and tears leaked from her eyes. Blinking, Shouko firmly rubbed her eyes.

_Calm down. Just calm down._ Quite calmly, the green-haired clarinetist walked over to the third door on the left side and after a quick glance inside, entered without knocking and sat down on the piano stool. She closed her eyes and let the deep, soul-wrenching tones of the cello wash over her.

The player was a young boy her age. He had sleepy, constantly half-lidded eyes, which when opened to the fullest (something very, very rare) revealed irises of the most beautiful bright turquoise. At the moment, they were closed, just like hers. Pale blond curls tumbled down around his face, framing his pretty, angelic features. He was playing the cello gripped between his knees, his right hand expertly sliding the bow across the strings. It was a piece he knew so well he didn't even need to look – Bach's Prelude from Suites for Solo Cello No 1, the same piece he played at the final selection of the concours the year before. His favourite piece, Shouko knew.

The final note resounded in the room. Shimizu Keiichi blinked, then opened his eyes drowsily. He turned his head, almost in slow motion. "…Shouko… chan?"

The reason Shouko never knocked was that he never minded her presence, and she didn't like interrupting his practice. Most of the time, he wouldn't even hear her calling him until he finished playing anyway, and even if she waited outside until then, it was still faster for her to enter than for them to go through the whole routine of knocking, Keiichi releasing his bow, turning his head, noticing her, saying "Ah… Shouko…chan", her asking his permission to come in, him giving it, and finally her coming in. That tended to take a long time, especially since Keiichi moved in slow motion, so in the end she resorted to simply letting herself in.

"Keiichi-kun!" the girl burst out. "Yunoki-senpai knows! He confronted me… he noticed everything! And he was so unexpectedly horrible-" her words tumbled out one after another, tears coming back again as she spilled the whole story to Keiichi.

Pale blonde eyebrows furrowed. Slowly, the celloist reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. He leaned forward and offered the distraught girl an angelic smile as he dabbed at her eyes with the cloth. "Please… don't cry… Shouko-chan."

She choked back a sob. Keiichi was so kind. Kinder than that purple-haired devil could ever pretend to be. Keiichi was her number one best friend, ever since just after the concours. Although she admired Kaho-senpai and was grateful to her and Amou-san for being her friends and always encouraging her, quite often she simply couldn't keep up with their pace. Even among her own classmates, Shouko often got left behind in the conversation. People simply spoke and did things too fast, and they always accused her of being too shy. Keiichi, conversely, moved even more slowly than she did, and strangely it didn't even bother him. He was her anchor – after talking about something stressful, simply one of his sweet, unburdened smiles would make her feel better. He always accepted and never criticized, unless it was about music. People often accused him of not listening to them, but Shouko knew he did, really. He just took a longer time to process things, but when he did, he always came up with the right answer.

At the moment he was processing her situation. If Shouko didn't know better, she would have assumed, as most people would, that he had drifted off into his dreamland again. But since they were in the same class this year, they had quite often worked together despite using such different instruments, simply because no one else wanted to pair up with them. By now, Shouko felt she knew the sleepy celloist quite well.

"Shouko-chan…"

"Keiichi-kun?"

"What does… Yunoki-senpai… want?"

"I don't know… he said he would tell me later."

"That's… not good. He's… taking advantage… of the situation."

His frown disappeared as her turned to face his friend, giving her another smile. "Don't worry… Shouko-chan. Yunoki-senpai… likes Kaho-senpai. He… won't tell… Hihara-senpai. And… I don't doubt… he is a good… matchmaker."

"You think so?" Shouko was still worried.

"Play… Clarinet Polka… for me."

"Ehh?"

"Play… Clarinet Polka… for me."

"Ehh… um, sure."

That was _unexpected_. Still, Shouko was glad to have a distraction. Taking out her clarinet, she placed the mouthpiece between her lips and began to play the happy, uplifting tune she knew so well. Soon, the cheery tone of the song began to have an effect on its player who began to smile as she played. When she finally blew the last note, she opened her eyes and removing the mouthpiece from her lips, she turned to the celloist.

"Thank you, Keiichi-kun. That made me feel so much better."

Shouko felt her heart tug a little at the untroubled, peaceful smile he gave her in response. She loved Keiichi so much, yet she knew it wasn't in that way. She couldn't help herself from wondering why she liked Hihara Kazuki instead – he was the farthest thing from slow-moving, in the spectrum that ranged perhaps from slow Keiichi to shy Shouko to average Kaho-senpai to bubbly Amou, with Hihara all the way on the other end. He was the most energetic, excitable person she had ever met. Yet he made her smile, made her laugh, and always had kind words for her, on the rare occasion that he did speak to her – and that was probably why she adored him.

Shouko could feel the gloom coming back. She and Hihara-senpai were completely incompatible, weren't they? It was just his nature to make people smile, and he was too nice to leave her out. He probably barely registered her existence – besides, he liked Kaho-senpai. A soft sigh escaped her lips.

"Shouko…chan? What's wrong?"

She smiled weakly at the concerned boy.

"Keiichi-kun, do you want a girlfriend?" she asked, curious about his take on the whole concept.

The celloist seemed puzzled by her question, but he answered it anyway. "Not particularly… I have… my cello. That's… more than enough."

"You don't feel the need to have someone special? Someone who loves you?" she asked curiously.

Keiichi cocked his head. He opened his eyes properly to look at her, the bright turquoise catching the light prettily.

"What… is love?"

Shouko was stumped.

"Do you love… Hihara-senpai?"

"I think so," she said in a small voice. "But I think we're incompatible. Should I continue hoping, Keiichi-kun?"

He smiled mysteriously, stroking his cello tenderly. "It's never wrong to hope."

And somehow, those words coming from an angel, gave Shouko hope.

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**Please, please review! ****Because review = new chapter XD**** Thank you so much to Aidou Yuukihara and jiyu22 for reviewing :)**

**Anyway, I hope no one's bored to death, because I'm going to focus more on friendship. But of course, there will be fluff... let the pretty Fuyuumi prove Yunoki wrong! :D Go Shimizu!**


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